Amid viral frenzy, clown-suited man grabs for toddler in Concord

Concord police say a person dressed in a clown suit tried to abduct a baby girl.
The incident occurred at a bus stop in Concord at Willow Pass Road near Waterworld Parkway at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Media: KTVU

A series of pranks involving “creepy clowns” that spread around the country on social media in recent weeks took a dark turn Wednesday in Concord when a woman reported that a man sporting rainbow polka dots and blue curly hair had tried to pull her 1-year-old daughter away from her at a bus stop, police said.

The man’s intentions weren’t immediately clear, nor was the episode’s connection to a viral hoax that has prompted people all over to post, share and watch videos of eerie “clown sightings,” while some schools deal with clown-themed threats of violence.

The White House weighed in on the clown craze, as did horror novelist Stephen King. Police officials and others have warned that what may seem to some people like harmless pre-Halloween fun has to be taken seriously by the authorities — and could end with real trouble or tragedy.

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In Concord, 24-year-old Tiffany Martin said she was waiting with her daughter, Kissanni, at 1 p.m. at a bus stop at Willow Pass Road and Waterworld Parkway when she struck up a conversation with a man in a clown suit.

According to Concord Police Cpl. Christopher Blakely, who spoke to Martin, the mother and clown chatted about the recent sightings of his creepy compatriots that have garnered national attention, joking about where he buys his makeup and his lack of clown shoes. But suddenly, Blakely said, the clown grabbed the girl’s left arm and gave it a big tug, forcing the mother to kick the assailant.

“The clown comes up and sits down, all friendly and smiling,” Martin said in an interview. “I pay no mind to it until I realized he snatched my daughter’s arm. He pulls her arm, and I kicked him in the private parts.”

He promptly ran away, going east on Willow Pass Road, police said. Officers were called to the area but were unable to locate the alleged assailant. The girl was not injured.

The report came after schools in Oakland, Fairfield, Sacramento, San Mateo and Burlingame were among those listed in social media postings threatening that clowns would show up on campus and, in some cases, commit violence. Police in the Bay Area and elsewhere, though, have found no evidence to deem the threats credible.

“We heard about this stupid clown thing. It’s going around now,” said Blakely, who nonetheless advised anyone with concerns to call police. “With the national attention these clowns are getting, you should call and report them, and we’ll go out there and make sure they’re not breaking any laws.”

Photo: Anne Taylor Via Brenda Lee Cooper

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"Creepy clowns" have proliferated on social media, such as this sighting in Clifton Park, N.Y.

"Creepy clowns" have proliferated on social media, such as this sighting in Clifton Park, N.Y.

Photo: Anne Taylor Via Brenda Lee Cooper

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Schools in Oakland, Fairfield, Sacramento and Burlingame were among those listed in social media postings threatening that clowns would show up on campus and, in some cases, commit some kind of violence.

Schools in Oakland, Fairfield, Sacramento and Burlingame were among those listed in social media postings threatening that clowns would show up on campus and, in some cases, commit some kind of violence.

Photo: CSA Images/Printstock Collection/Getty Images/CSA Images RF

Amid viral frenzy, clown-suited man grabs for toddler in Concord

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The clown fixation appears to have originated in South Carolina’s Greenville County after locals reported in August that clowns were attempting to lure children into the woods. Next came videos of creepy clown sightings as well as faked clown threats and mass “clown hunts,” all shared and amplified online, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

A Connecticut school district temporarily banned clown costumes and other “symbols of terror” for the Halloween season after being alerted to Instagram photos captioned with threats for schools in the area to “watch out” and “wait and see.” According to published reports, at least a dozen people in clown garb have been arrested in various states for offenses ranging from making threats to chasing people.

In the Utah city of Orem, police officials said they had received numerous calls about whether citizens were allowed to shoot “creepy clowns” — and had to remind folks that such a response can’t be justified based on a costume alone.

As the pranks spread, a reporter asked about the phenomenon at a White House briefing on Tuesday. Press secretary Josh Earnest mostly deferred to the FBI, saying, “Obviously this is a situation that local law enforcement authorities take quite seriously. And they should carefully and thoroughly review perceived threats to the safety of the community.”

King, who wrote the 1986 novel “It” about a monstrous clown who terrorized children, also waded into the story this week, tweeting, “Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria — most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.”

While twisted clowns have been fodder for dozens of horror movies, the clown suit itself may explain the reaction to the recent trend, because it hides the identity of the person inside, said San Francisco State University psychology professor David Matsumoto. The suit, he said, “provides de-identification” for the wearer.

The anonymity of a disguise, Matsumoto said, can promote bad behavior in much the same way that online anonymity can fuel offensive screeds and threats. “Identity is a large part of how society regulates behavior,” he said.

Veteran San Francisco clown-for-hire David Magidson, who charges $300 to do a birthday party, said Wednesday that it wasn’t fair that a few bad guys can dress up as clowns and wreck an entire profession.

“How can this happen to clowns?” he said. “If someone dressed up as, say, an auto mechanic and did something horrible, would the entire world start blaming auto mechanics?”

Bill Schober of New Jersey, a director with the World Clown Association, is among the lucky professional clowns not to see a recent drop-off in business. He said he views the viral mania positively — as a challenge to prove he can be the best clown possible.

“Just because you have a nose on and funny-looking hair, doesn’t mean you’re a clown,” Schober said. “I just tell people not to freak out about it, because these people aren’t real clowns.”